Farmers and firefighters battled flames at huge field fire near Kettering

A huge blaze that ripped through three stubble fields close to Kettering has left large sections of hedgerows next to a country lane blackened and destroyed.

Eight fire appliances attended the scene of the blaze after being called to the fire in Northfield Road near Cransley yesterday (Sunday, August 14) at 4.25pm.

Wild animals were seen running from the flames as fire tore through the harvested fields.

Farmers used machinery to plough a firebreak to prevent further damage to vegetation and fences while firefighters used a bowser, pumps and beaters.

Surveying the damage, one of the farmers said that he was relieved that his sheep hadn’t been in one of the 25-acre fields that caught fire.

He said: “If the sheep had been in there they would have gone up like Roman candles. Hares and deer were running away like headless chickens.”

The cause of the incident is not yet known.